Order of the Red Star: my two contributions, 1495564 & 1598848

Article about: Insprired by Bill's posting of some of his Orders of the Red Star, I thought that I would share my two with the forum. I have yet to have these researched, but when funds permit, I will do s

1. Last name: Shapovalov
2. First name and patronymic: Pyotr Andreyevich
3. Military rank: Reserve Guards Private
4. Sex: Male
5. Year of birth: 1919
6. Place of birth: Village of Maryanovka, Kompaneyevka Raion, Kirovograd Oblast
7. Party membership (since which year): Candidate member of the Communist Party since 1942
8. Education: Elementary
9. Nationality: Ukrainian
10. Since which year in the Red Army: From November 1940 through May 1946
11. Place of service (name of the unit) and position occupied at the time of the award: Telephone operator in the 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps
12. Current place of service and position: Member of the enlisted reserves. Unemployed
13. Home address of the awardee: 8 Novoselskaya Street, city of Nikolayev, Ukrainian SSR

14. Record of all awards received:

Name of the order or medal Serial number Number of the document Ground of award
Medal for Combat Merit 873206 Temporary certificate nr. B-168009 Order of the 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps nr. 013/N of February 25, 1944
Medal for Courage 2127371 Temporary certificate nr. D-729419 Order of the 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps nr. 024 of March 5, 1945
Order of the Red Star 1598848 Temporary certificate nr. Zh-976501 Order of the 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps nr. 062 of August 17, 1945
Medal for the Defense of Stalingrad / Permanent certificate nr. Ye-35953 Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of December 22, 1942
Medal for the Capture of Königsberg / Permanent certificate nr. A-141121 Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 9, 1945
Medal for the Victory over Germany / Permanent certificate nr. T-0149790 Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of May 9, 1945

Signature of the awardee: [signed]

I confirm the correctness of the data and the signature of the awardee (position and signature):

Military commissar of the Zavod Raion, city of Nikolayev
Lieutenant Colonel [signed] /Gureyev/
July 2, 1946

Click to enlarge the picture

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On behalf of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, for the exemplary accomplishment of combat missions in the struggle with the German invaders and the valor and bravery displayed in the process, I award:

1. Last name, first name, and patronymic: Shapovalov, Pyotr Andreyevich
2. Rank: Guards Private
3. Position and unit: Telephone operator in the Headquarters Platoon of the Artillery of the 3rd Grodno Order of Lenin Red Banner Guards Cavalry Corps
Nominated for: Order of the Red Star
4. Year of birth: 1919
5. Nationality: Ukrainian
6. Party affiliation: Candidate member of the Communist Party
7. Participation in the Patriotic War, the subsequent combat actions to defend the USSR, and the Patriotic War (where and when): In the Patriotic War since June 1941
8. Wounds and contusions received during the Patriotic War: No
9. Since when in the Red Army: Since 1940
10. Drafted by which military commissariat: Military Commissariat of the Nikolayev Raion
11. Awards received previously (for which merits): Medal for Courage by Order nr. 031 of March 24, 1945 and Medal for Combat Merit by Order nr. 02 of January 8, 1944
12. Permanent home address of the prospective awardee and the address of his family: _______________

Short, concrete description of his combat feat or merits:

During the operations conducted by the corps between April 25, 1945 and May 4, 1945 telephone operator Shapovalov was continuously posted at the observation post of the corps’ artillery commander, ensuring uninterrupted telephone communications between the artillery commander on the one side and the divisional artillery commanders and the attached artillery units on the other. The line that was managed by comrade Shapovalov was often subjected to enemy artillery fire and often broke, but Shapovalov, displaying bravery and great powers of endurance, spent days on end at the line, repairing breaks in the cable, thanks to which the line was in continuous operation.

For carrying out his tasks in an excellent manner and for displaying bravery and courage in the process, he deserves the Order of the Red Star.

Commander of the Headquarters Platoon of the Artillery of the 3rd Grodno Order of Lenin Red Banner Guards Cavalry Corps
Guards Senior Lieutenant [signed] /Gershkevich/

He deserves the Order of the Red Star.

Chief of staff of the Corps’ Artillery
Guards Major [signed] /Sautkin/
May 7, 1945

I award the Order of the Red Star.

Commander of the Artillery of the 3rd Grodno Order of Lenin Red Banner Guards Cavalry Corps
Guards Major General of the Artillery [signed] /P. Nefyodov/

By Order of the 3rd Grodno Red Banner Guards Cavalry Corps nr. 062 of August 7, 1945 awarded the Order of the Red Star.

Chief of the Personnel Section
Guards Lieutenant Colonel [signed]

Click to enlarge the picture

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But I cant help thinking about what lies beyond this (relatively) dry description on a page.
The stark terror, sacrifice, courage and enourmous efforts at high cost on behalf of soldiers back then.
On both sides for that matter.

These Order of the Red Star documents and the decorations themselves are food for thought (at least to me) ....and that is not a bad thing IMO.

And while I am very happy to be the caretaker owner, it is a shame the family's parted with them.

But now their stories will be preserved here. I never realised until the other day that the original owners were never informed of the actual reason for the award. So he would have never seen the citation as it was Secret.

Cheers, Ade.

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Wot!?
It never occourred to me, that the receipients would not receive the merit for the Award along with having the Order of the Red Star pinned to their chest (or rather screwed onto their uniform, as it were).
Only in the USSR!
So this info only surfaced because of time gone by and/or a general 'thawing' of policy because of the winds of change after 1990?

But it will only work if you enter the name: you cannot do it via the serial number of an award only.

Taken from the site:

The Russian Federation Ministry of Defence presents the unique open access electronic database which is being filled with all available documents from the military archives related to the progress and results of the main military operations, heroic feats and rewards of all Soviet soldiers of the Great Patriotic War.
The main objectives of the project are perpetuation of the memory of all heroes of the War, irrespective of rank, scales of a feat and award status, the patriotic education of youth on military valour of fathers and the creation of the documental basis for counteraction against the attempts of the World War II history falsification.
Creation of the open access electronic documents repository related to the key period of the modern history does not have analogues by size, historical and social importance, ant it is an eternal memorial to the Great People's Feat.

On the 8.8.2011 there is information about 12 670 837 awardings in the database.

Dear users of the open access electronic repository of documents "People's Feat in Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"!
Information restricted by the Russian Federation law is not published in open access electronic repository of documents "People's Feat in Great Patriotic War 1941-1945".

Cheers, Ade.

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Thanks for info.
I wonder why receipients were not told...
Anyway, if one still needs to enter the name of the receipient, I can see, that I still need to have someone research the name belonging to the number of the Order of the Red Star in my possession (and translate the documents).